Is viewership up for the 2024 Stanley Cup Final?

According to the previously mentioned Sportico article, the numbers for Game 1 might've been low because it took place on a Saturday night, which typically has the lowest TV viewership throughout the week. 

They also mentioned that having a Canadian team in the Cup Final is bad for viewership numbers over the whole series since there is only one U.S. market — in this case, Miami — tuning into the NHL's stateside TV partners.

While Game 4 was also on a Saturday night and didn't have quite as many viewers as Games 2 and 3 during the week, they still had over 3 million viewers that night. Then, there is the jump in viewership over last year's Final which featured two U.S. teams. 

ESPN Press Room tells us the first four games of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final are averaging 3.3M viewers, which is a 25% increase from Games 1-4 when Florida played Vegas. 

The increase may be modest, but there is certainly a bump in viewership here.

So why the increase in viewers? It isn't readily clear.

Sports Business Journal notes that the first round of the 2023 playoffs didn't have any simulcasted games while the 2024 first round had more than 10, so that surely contributed to the increase early on.  

As for the Final itself, it could all come down to star power. Even a fair-weather hockey fan knows McDavid is one of the best players on the planet, so watching him potentially win his first Stanley Cup will draw viewers in. 

Fans are probably also familiar with the physical and fight-prone style the Panthers play, which arguably makes for entertaining in a Cup Final situation.

The stakes will only be higher for Game 5 down in Sunrise. We'll just have to check back in later this week to see if those viewing numbers continue to rise.